Spatial recognition in an autonomous vehicle group

Abstract

An autonomous vehicle includes a sensor interface coupled to a gyroscope system, a wireless communication interface, a processor, and memory. The memory has instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the autonomous vehicle to establish a plurality of wireless communication links with two or more vehicles in a group including the autonomous vehicle and the two or more vehicles. A signal strength of each of the wireless communication links is monitored to determine an observed signal strength of each of the wireless communication links. A desired position of the autonomous vehicle is determined based on an expected signal strength of each of the wireless communication links. A position adjustment of the autonomous vehicle is initiated based on a difference between the expected signal strength and the observed signal strength in combination with data from the gyroscope system.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An autonomous vehicle comprising:
 a sensor interface coupled to a gyroscope system; 
 a wireless communication interface; 
 a processor; and 
 memory having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the autonomous vehicle to:
 establish a plurality of wireless communication links with two or more vehicles in a group comprising the autonomous vehicle and the two or more vehicles; 
 monitor a signal strength of each of the wireless communication links to determine an observed signal strength of each of the wireless communication links; 
 determine a desired position of the autonomous vehicle based on an expected signal strength of each of the wireless communication links; 
 receive control commands from a commander node through the plurality of wireless communication links; and 
 initiate a position adjustment of the autonomous vehicle based on the control commands and a difference between the expected signal strength and the observed signal strength in combination with data from the gyroscope system. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication links form a portion of a wireless mesh network. 
     
     
       3. The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the autonomous vehicle and the two or more vehicles are autonomous aerial vehicles and are controlled in the group by the commander node. 
     
     
       4. The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the autonomous vehicle tracks an estimated position of the two or more vehicles based on a signal strength-to-distance mapping applied to the observed signal strength. 
     
     
       5. The autonomous vehicle of  claim 4 , wherein the desired position is further determined based on the estimated position of the two or more vehicles and the control commands from the commander node. 
     
     
       6. The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein a triangulation calculation is applied to determine the position adjustment based on an orientation of the autonomous vehicle derived through the data from the gyroscope system in combination with the difference between the expected signal strength and the observed signal strength for each of the wireless communication links with the two or more vehicles. 
     
     
       7. The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein each of the two or more vehicles applies a signal-strength based position adjustment as a self-correction to maintain the group in a formation. 
     
     
       8. The autonomous vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein at least one vehicle of the group communicates with at least one vehicle of a second group to maintain a relative position between the group and the second group, the second group comprising a second commander node and a plurality of autonomous aerial vehicles. 
     
     
       9. A method of spatial recognition in a group comprising an autonomous vehicle and two or more vehicles, the method comprising:
 establishing a plurality of wireless communication links between the autonomous vehicle and the two or more vehicles in the group; 
 monitoring, by the autonomous vehicle, a signal strength of each of the wireless communication links to determine an observed signal strength of each of the wireless communication links; 
 determining a desired position of the autonomous vehicle based on an expected signal strength of each of the wireless communication links; 
 receiving control commands from a commander node through the plurality of wireless communication links; and 
 initiating a position adjustment of the autonomous vehicle based on the control commands and a difference between the expected signal strength and the observed signal strength in combination with data from a gyroscope system of the autonomous vehicle. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the autonomous vehicle tracks an estimated position of the two or more vehicles based on a signal strength-to-distance mapping applied to the observed signal strength, and the desired position is further determined based on the estimated position of the two or more vehicles and the control commands from the commander node. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 9 , wherein a triangulation calculation is applied to determine the position adjustment based on an orientation of the autonomous vehicle derived through the data from the gyroscope system in combination with the difference between the expected signal strength and the observed signal strength for each of the wireless communication links with the two or more vehicles. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 9 , wherein each of the two or more vehicles applies a signal-strength based position adjustment as a self-correction to maintain the group in a formation. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 9 , wherein at least one vehicle of the group communicates with at least one vehicle of a second group to maintain a relative position between the group and the second group, the second group comprising a second commander node and a plurality of autonomous aerial vehicles.